Registration is compulsory and free
Any business selling food must register with its local authority at least 28 days before trading, and registration cannot be refused. That is what puts a premises on the council inspection list in the first place.
A takeaway operating from an unregistered kitchen, including a home kitchen selling through a delivery app, sits outside that system entirely and will have no hygiene rating to check.
Allergens: what they must tell you
There are 14 regulated allergens in UK law, including peanuts, tree nuts, milk, eggs, fish, crustaceans, molluscs, cereals containing gluten, soya, sesame, celery, mustard, lupin and sulphur dioxide. For food sold loose or made to order, a business must provide accurate allergen information, and may do so verbally provided it clearly signposts that you should ask.
For food prepacked for direct sale, made and packed on the premises before you order it, Natasha’s Law requires a full ingredients list with allergens emphasised on the label.
Ask, do not assume
A dish that contained no nuts last month may contain them now. Allergen information is only reliable at the point you ask about the food you are actually ordering.
What the hygiene rating does and does not cover
The rating covers hygienic food handling, the physical condition of the premises, and how confident the inspector is in the management of food safety. It says nothing about taste, portion size or value.
It is also a snapshot of one day. A business can improve and request a re-inspection, and a business can decline after a good visit. Check the inspection date alongside the score.
If food makes you ill
Report it to the food safety team at the council for the area the business is in, not to the app you ordered through. Councils investigate and can inspect on the strength of a complaint, which the app cannot.
Keep any packaging, note what you ate and when symptoms began, and see a doctor if symptoms are severe or persistent. If you were given wrong allergen information, say so explicitly, because that is a distinct and more serious offence.
Frequently asked questions
- Does a delivery app check hygiene ratings?
- The major platforms display Food Standards Agency ratings for businesses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, but the listing is not a substitute for checking the FSA record itself, which shows the inspection date and the inspecting authority.
- Can a takeaway refuse to tell me the ingredients?
- They must provide allergen information for the 14 regulated allergens. They are not required to disclose a full recipe, but they cannot decline to tell you whether a regulated allergen is present.
- What does a rating of 0 mean?
- Urgent improvement is necessary. It does not mean the business has been closed, since closure is a separate enforcement step. A rating of 1 means major improvement is necessary. Both are worth taking seriously.
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About this guide
Written and maintained by the LocalListed editorial team. It describes UK regulation and consumer protections in general terms and is not legal, financial or professional advice. Rules differ between England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and change over time: always check the position with the named regulator before relying on it.